This Week In WWE Biz: Seth Rollins Injured and Stripped of Title, Sting at Survivor Series? And More

I grapple with the world of pro wrestling, where sports meets entertainment.

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: Seth Rollins and John Cena battle it out at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 23, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images)

Seth Rollins Injured, Stripped of WWE Championship

There will be a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion come Survivor Series, but only because unfortunate circumstances have forced the WWE to take the title from Seth Rollins.

According to WWE.com, Rollins suffered a devastating knee injury at live event in Dublin, Ireland and has been stripped of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, an injury that was first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman:

Rollins is expected to miss 6-9 months with the injury, and his scheduled World title match against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series is off, being replaced by a one-night tournament to determine the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The one who suffers the most from Rollins’ injury is obviously Rollins himself, who has held the title since WrestleMania 31, has been the WWE’s clearcut No. 1 heel since then and has been arguably the top overall performer in the company in 2015.

But the loss of Rollins is an unfortunate blow to the heel side of the WWE, which recently lost Rusev to injury, has failed miserably at pushing Money in the Bank holder Sheamus and doesn’t have a ton of depth as far as main-eventers are concerned. But for any upper midcard or main-event level performer not named Seth Rollins, a potential opportunity of a lifetime awaits him at Survivor Series, if the WWE doesn't scrap the idea of tournament as some rumors suggest.

There's still no word yet on who will team withKane and TheUndertaker to face The Wyatt Family at WWE Survivor Series. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter indicates this week thatSting could be a option is he's able to wrestle after the injuries he suffered at Night of Champions. It's possible the match ends up being 2-on-4 elimination style with Kane and Taker vs. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper,Erick Rowanand Braun Strowman."

The last time WWE fans saw Sting inside the squared circle was at Night of Champions when he suffered a very noticeable injury during his WWE Championship match against Seth Rollins. Given how bad the injury looked after Sting took a turnbuckle powerbomb from Rollins, it would be a minor miracle to see him back in the ring so soon.

But if Sting is ready, willing and physically cleared to get back in the ring, then the WWE should let him play ball.

Sting is a natural fit in a storyline that seems to be revolving around supernatural elements, and given that many of the WWE’s other top babyfaces are currently involved in angles of their own, there aren’t many options left for potential teammates for Kane and The Undertaker. And Sting just makes the most sense.

With the WWE sorely lacking top babyfaces at the moment due to a combination of several factors, including the recent injury to Randy Orton, Sting is one of the few babyfaces who will generate added interest to a main-event level storyline that could be used as a way to setup a potential dream match between The Undertaker and Sting at WrestleMania 32.

Though that’s a dream scenario and nothing more at this point, the WWE would be missing a golden opportunity to breathe some new life into its programming if it failed to utilize Sting at Survivor Series—assuming he’s ready to go.

(Photo from YouTube.com)

ESPN “Happy” With WWE So Far

Just a few weeks ago, ESPN and the WWE dropped a blockbuster announcement that the two entertainment juggernauts would be teaming up for a weekly SportsCenter segment, and the deal is apparently working out very well for ESPN so far, according the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t SEScoops):

ESPN is said to be happy thus far with the viewership numbers they have been getting for the Tuesday night at 9pm SportsCenter on ESPN News, which has recently included the WWE interview. The numbers are actually up compared to what the hour had been doing before the addition of the WWE segment."

When the ESPN-WWE partnership was announced, it created a further divide between sports fans, who don’t want “fake” wrestling invading the sports world, and pro wrestling fans, who were glad to see the WWE getting some love from a legitimate sports channel. And for anyone who is a fan of both wrestling and sports, the budding relationship between ESPN and WWE has been, quite simply, a welcome sight to see.

More good news for that latter group of fans: The WWE segment on SportsCenter seems to be an instant hit, which couldn’t be working out any better for either company. The WWE is obviously going to benefit from the exposure it gets on ESPN while ESPN’s attempt to shake things up and cover “fringe” sports has become necessary at a time when the channel is losing viewers at an alarmingly rapid pace.

Luckily for both companies, their surprising partnership has been successful in the short term. Now, let’s just wait and see what happens in the long run.

WWE SmackDown will remain on Thursday nights when the show moves from Syfy to the USA Network in January, according to USA Network president Chris McCumber.

McCumber toldAdAge.comthat the plan is to package Smackdown with a new series on Thursday nights, with SmackDown remaining in its 8pm EST time slot on the east coast.

There had been talk of SmackDown going live each week and moving to Tuesday nights, with Jerry Lawler recently confirming this change was being considered."

Just a few weeks ago when Lawler revealed that SmackDown might be making the swap to Tuesdays to coincide with the move to the USA Network, I wrote a detailed breakdown of why SmackDown should switch to a live format on its new home. Essentially, it’s simply a much smarter business decision, one that would likely result in better programming, higher ratings and, in turn, more advertising money.

A photo posted by WrestleZone (@wrestlezonecom) on Nov 4, 2015 at 9:37am PST

The advantage of keeping SmackDown as a taped show and airing it on Thursdays, however, is that it will relieve those within the WWE of the burden of having to book two live shows on two consecutive days every week—and three during weeks that feature a pay-per-view—which seems to be the WWE’s thought process in keeping SmackDown on Thursdays.

Truth be told, a live Thursday airing of SmackDown isn’t a realistic possibility either, or at least isn’t a smart business move. So while SmackDown would likely improve considerably by airing live on Tuesdays, keeping it on Thursdays is the WWE’s way of ensuring that it can edit the show to its liking, whether that’s good or bad for its fans.

There likely won’t be any RKOs outta nowhere for a while.According to WWE.com, Randy Orton’s shoulder injury is bad enough that it may keep “The Viper” on the sidelines all the way through WrestleMania 32 next year:

Randy has suffered from a dislocated shoulder. He’s had chronic problems with his shoulder, and a recent MRI that was done found he has a Bankart lesion in his shoulder, some stretched ligaments and a partially torn rotator cuff,” WWE physician Dr. Steve Daquino told WWE.com. “At this point it’s a matter of when he dislocates the shoulder again, and not if. Surgery seems imminent, and recovery time for such a surgery would be four to six months.”

While the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t SEScoops) seems to confirm that MRI results revealed that Orton is suffering from "a dislocated shoulder, a Bankart lesion in his shoulder, stretched ligaments, and a partially torn rotator cuff," you just never know what to believe when it comes to WWE.com, a Web site that features stories that are both storyline-based, reality-based or even a mix of both. So, what’s truly going on with Orton? No one can be sure.

The WWE is not going to keep Orton sidelined if he isn’t actually injured because John Cena is already on the shelf, and the company can't afford for Orton to be there, too. But the 4-6 month time frame could very well be an exaggerated number, one meant to set Orton up for a memorable and shocking early return sometime during the build to WrestleMania 32 in early 2016.

Memorable returns like this have, of course, happened numerous times in the past. Think John Cena at The Royal Rumble in 2008 or Edge at that very same pay-per-view two years later in 2010. Regardless of whether or not Orton returns in time for WrestleMania like Edge and Cena did, however, he’ll certainly be missed.

Although his babyface character earns him a lot of hatred and negative comments across the Internet, he’s undoubtedly one of the WWE’s most important good guys, especially at a time when Cena and Daniel Bryan aren’t on TV.

As it turns out, WWE Hell in a Cell wasn’t the forgettable or disappointing fall pay-per-view that it’s typically been in the past. According to the Wrestling Observer (h/t WrestleZone), Hell in a Cell was a huge financial success for the WWE, especially compared to other pay-per-views that don’t fit the bill as a “Big Four” show:

The final attendance figure for WWE Hell in a Cell at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California was 14,184. The event was a legit sellout, and brought in a $1,324,625 gate. This is considered a great attendance and live gate figure for WWE considering Hell in a Cell is regarded as a “B” PPV event. It’s being said, however, that with ticket prices being raised, WWE gates across the board have been up even with similar attendance."

A few factors likely played into the success of this year’s WWE Hell in a Cell show. First, the pay-per-view took place in Los Angeles, which is one of the better wrestling cities in the US and was the annual host to SummerSlam for several years. Second, it was a show that was main evented by the WWE’s two biggest part-time attractions in Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, and third, increased ticket prices were bound to improve the show’s gate anyway, as long as attendance didn’t drop significantly.

Still, this has got to be a confidence booster for the WWE at a time when Monday Night Raw’s ratings are once again at a record low because it shows that, despite TV viewership dropping, live pay-per-view attendance is still a big moneymaker for the company. The WWE has scheduled a number of upcoming B-level pay-per-views in cities with passionate pro wrestling fan bases too, including WWE TLC in Boston this December and WWE Fastlane in St. Louis next February, and this is obviously strategic planning on the WWE’s part.

B-level pay-per-views aren’t going to generate the buzz that a “Big Four” pay-per-view like WrestleMania or SummerSlam will, but hosting those shows in cities with rich wrestling traditions should help offset the fact that they aren’t as buzzworthy as the WWE’s biggest PPVs.

The WWE prides itself on being a global enterprise—after all, that first W does stand for “World”—and now, it appears that the company is targeting one of the world’s biggest countries to further extend its worldwide reach.

According to WrestlingInc.com, the WWE will return to India for the first time in more than a decade when it holds two live events in the world’s second-most populous country in January 2016. This news comes just a couple of days after the WWE announced that the WWE Network officially launched in the country as well.

The WWE’s attempted expansion to India is a fantastic move for the company in large part because of the sheer size of the country, which has well over a billion citizens and is second only to China in terms of population. The launch of the WWE Network as well as the decision to hold two live events in India should help satisfy the appetites of a ravenous group of pro wrestling fans.

India has a pro wrestling market that really hasn’t been tapped into by any global wrestling company, and given the combination of India’s eagerness to see pro wrestling and the massive amount of people that the country has, it is the perfect place for the WWE to target for international expansion.

The WWE’s next step is to make a concentrated effort to find an Indian superstar who appeals to that viewing audience in much the same way that Alberto Del Rio does to Hispanic viewers.

Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to the Forbes @SportsMoneyBlog, where he focuses on the WWE, NBA and NFL. You can follow him on Twitter at @BOestriecher.